Reply to this post | See parent post | Go Back

View Post [edit]

Poster:	Monte B Cowboy	Date:	January 22, 2013 12:47:34pm
Forum:	GratefulDead	Subject:	Re: The Importance of Attending a Show: Part II

I got my driver's license in 1968. My first rig was a 1959 Buick. It had the starter switch built into the accelerator pedal. Then I got a 1963 Chevy with a 4-speed transmission. Then I bought a beautiful gold, four-speed, 1967 Olds 442 from a friend. I loved my 442. But then I became a hippie!

In 1972 I downsized to a dinky little Pinto. It was my first new car. I drove the Pinto to Phoenix with a friend in summer '72 to get some ditch weed. I drove it to Nassau Coliseum, RFK Stadium, Watkins Glen, and Roosevelt Stadium in 1973. About a week after Roosevelt Stadium it was "totalled" by some nut-case who ran a stop sign and nearly killed me.

I converted to Cowboy and went to electronics school full time (carpooling). I started driving VW beetles in 1974. I drove VWs for about eight years because they were very economic and reliable. I gained maximum independence and mobility during this period by driving VWs. Driving VWs was my ticket to electronics school, my ticket to taping Vassar Clements and Hillbilly Jazz and other shows, my ticket to becoming a soundman, my ticket to going camping all over the place, my ticket to working for Ampex, and my ticket to becoming a broadcast engineer.

my Ford Pinto made it to RFK Stadium, Watkins Glen, & Roosevelt Stadium destroyed when struck by a drunk driver who nearly killed me in Aug 1973

reflective"TRUCK IT" bumper stickers are displayed for Dead-heads made in 1972 by my GD friend, "June 9 Taper-pointman Jay Delia"

I'm still not sure "exactly" how many shows I attended (1973 only). I'm using Deadbase, my memory, and my tapes. Deadbase lists GD shows at Nassau Coliseum and The Spectrum for both March AND September 1973. I think my car was totalled on Aug 10. (my Pinto photo is dated Aug 11.) I would have carpooled with my GD friends for the Nassau shows on Sept 7 and 8 and The Spectrum shows on Sept 20 and 21.

For the record: In 1971, I purchased an 8-track recording system to make my own 8-track tape cartridges. I wanted to play hippie music from my albums in my car's tape player. Then I made 8-track tapes for lots of my hippie friends. I was "hooked on taping" from the very first moment.

In fall 1972 I met Jimmy Watson and a bunch of NJ deadheads. Jimmy shared his GD reel-to-reel tape collection with me. I started making 8-track copies of GD tapes. Everyone was playing them in their cars. We went to the Nassau Coliseum shows on March 15, 16, and 19. After that, we agreed it would be great if I started taping shows.

I looked around for the best portable tape recorders. Cassettes were replacing 8-track tapes. I wasn't interested in buying a reel-to-reel recorder. I purchased my portable Sony stereo cassette recorder and Sony ECM-99 stereo mic together. I purchased them at Sam Goody's store located on Route 17 in Paramus, NJ in April or May 1973. My first tape deck may not have been a model "TC 2850 SD" but it looked exactly like the one pictured below.

Sony TC 2850 SD portable stereo cassette recorder

Several model numbers evolved in Sony's tape deck products using the same chassis and case pictured above. For sure, my Sony tape deck did not have Chromium Dioxide tape bias, and it did not have Dolby noise reduction.

As I understand it, Jerry Moore's first time taping was Old And In The Way on June 8 at a bluegrass festival in Warrenton, VA.

June 9 was my first time taping, in Washington D.C. at RFK Stadium. Jay Delia gets credit for parting the crowd and leading me and my taping gear to the fob ground-zero point on June 9. Then I taped June 10. I refused to bring my taping gear to Watkins Glen. I had just taken delivery of my expensive new portable Nakamichi 550 tape deck.

I taped July 31 and Aug 1 using the Nak. There's no SBD from July 31. Jerry Moore's copy is complete. My copy is missing reel 2 (lost). My reel 3 tape was seized by Hell' Angels security as the show was ending. Jimmy Watson went backstage with the Hell's Angel dude and retrieved my tape from the GD. This tape circulates today.

I taped some of the Nassau and Spectrum shows in September, but only a couple of them. It's very sketchy from my memory. I recorded other material over these tapes. I'm sure I gave copies to my friends first. I do have one old Maxell UD C90 cassette and case that is labeled "The Spectrum, Sept 20", including an indexed setlist on it. I recorded over this tape in 1974 with a jazz LP. (so I know how ghostofpig feels about old and lost GD tapes)

This post was modified by Monte B Cowboy on 2013-01-22 20:47:34

Reply to this post

Reply [edit]

Poster:	cosmicharIie	Date:	January 22, 2013 10:24:12am
Forum:	GratefulDead	Subject:	Re: The Importance of Attending a Show: Part II

I've always wondered, when you tape over a show, is there a very faint uhhh...something of it left on the tape?

Sorta like when people restore old paintings that were painted over - No? what about at a sub-atomic level - lol dumbass question??

This post was modified by cosmicharIie on 2013-01-22 18:24:12